Through the Looking Glass
by HistoryLights
Summary: He couldn't go back. And until this moment, he hadn't realize how much he didn't want to. OR A surprise visit makes Kylee realize some important things about his life.


Ch 1 Reunion

Weekends at the ranch were in Kyle's's opinion- boring. There wasn't much of anything to do around unless you counted minor repairs and no one had any real use for him. He was upstairs in his temporary room lounging on his bed still in the clothing he'd slept in. His kitten Razor Blade was curled up next to him purring up a storm as he scratched behind her ears. It was probably the most peaceful he'd been since, well since ever.

He'd been dozing lightly when he heard a knock at his door. He sighed mildly and fought his way back toward consciousness.

"Yeah?" he said and maneuvered so that he was facing the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Kimrick who opened it. The teen noticed that he looked slightly sweaty from working outside. He raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips.

"I thought you were giving me the day off?" he whined. Kimrick rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame.

"Got too quiet without a constant stream of complaints," he said. "Felt like I needed to make sure you hadn't attempted to kill yerself today." Kylee rolled his eyes as he stretched out on the mattress. Razor gave an unhappy grumble at having been disturbed from her nap and scrunched into a smaller ball to go back to sleep. The teen couldn't help the fond smile on his lips at her.

"Well clearly my suicidal tendencies haven't been active so is there anything else I can do for you Master?" he said in reply to the older male. As much as he enjoyed getting a rise out of his 'boss', all he really wanted today was a chance to chill. It was his first actual day off since he'd arrived at this hell hole, if you didn't count the rainy days, and he really wanted to take advantage of it. Kimrick sighed and beckoned him to follow him.

"As a matter o fact, I do actually have sumthing you can help with. Let's go" Kimrick walked off down the hall, fully expecting (and knowing) that the young man would be right behind him. Kylee groaned and ran a hand over his face.

"I hope it doesn't require actual pants," he said, rolling out of the warmth of his blankets. "because I'm not putting any on." He trudged after the other man, through the house and to the door.

"Yer loss," Kimrick said with a smirk. "if you want your friends to see you looking like a slob."

Kylee pause. What the hell was he going on about. He hadn't seen his so-called 'friends' in months, not that he'd really had any desire to see them in the first place. Getting arrested had really opened his eyes to the types of assholes he'd been hanging out with recently. In fact, if there was any one in his old crowd that he even had the slightest bit interest in talking to at this point it was… His eyes widened. It couldn't be…

"K-kimrick…?" he stammered. He couldn't stop the glimmer of hope that lit up his chest. The older man turned around and smirked at the teen.

"Bastard wouldn't let up until I let him come see you in person. Couldn't just take my word that you weren't getting the shit kicked outta you everyday." Kylee laughed wetly, too overwhelmed to bite out a snarky reply.

The door opened, and standing there, sunglasses on his face, his dark hair and beard just as messy and shaggy as the last time they'd seen each other and a smirk that never failed to put him in a good mood, was Scotty.

( _Scotty's PoV)_

All during the drive from his parent's, he couldn't stop the nervous bubble of excitement that sat in the pit of his stomach. Chewing at his bottom lip, he tried to pay attention to the scenery around him. It had been two months since his best friend had been sentence to community service at the small ranch just outside of town.

It had been almost four months since he'd actually spent any time with him at all. Kylee hated having him around at the house he shared with three other people. Mostly because of those people, only one of them didn't give off a total asshole vibe, and the third one, Scotty absolutely despised. He hated them all even more now since they had abandoned Kylee and threw him under the bus, figuratively speaking.

He shook his head. What would Kylee be like now, he wondered. Would he be bronzed from the Texas sun? Or had he been relegated to some remote corner to feed the chickens? He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't constantly worried about the younger male, from the time they'd met in middle school until he'd told him that he was moving in with three skeezbags. The boy was like a younger brother to him And now he was an hour's drive away from any kind of support (him, it was really just him). Was he getting fed enough (was he actually _eating_ the food, god Ky was so damn _picky_ sometimes) Was he sleeping? What if he was still having the night terrors that had plagued him in their childhood. Had he even told anyone else besides him about the night terrors? Was he _okay_ in general? He swore that if he caught even one sign of his best friend being bullied or abused, he would knock out every single person at the god damn place.

His gps pinged, the automated voice letting him know that he was near his destination. The young man took a deep breath, to calm himself. There was no use in getting all worked up now. He should just be glad that the ranch manager was being generous enough to allow him to even see Kylee. He'd sounded like a decent enough man on the phone and he knew just how trying Kylee could be at times. His best friend had a habit of testing his boundaries just to see who could actually put up with him.

Besides, the manager had to look after him. It was the law...wasn't it? They wouldn't really allow Kylee to starve or get hurt. Would they?

It was just passed three o' clock in the afternoon when Scotty saw the giant sign with the name of the ranch in front of him and behind that, a long fenced in driveway with cattle grazing on the dark green grass. He'd seen Kylee in less than ten minutes. He'd see for himself how the younger male was then.

The ranch manager, Mr. Kimrick, was quite possibly one of the hottest men that Scotty had seen to date. Tall and muscular with dark blonde hair and a rugged face. He was sure that his biceps were the size of Kylee's entire head. The only thing that marred his perfection was the nasty scar over his left eye, but even that gave the man a mysterious totally badass air about him. He'd greeted him politely and asked him how his drive had been. After exchanging some more pleasantries he told him that he'd be back with Kylee.

"Brat's probably lazing around watching TV again," he said walking back to the house. "Haven't told him you were coming, didn't think I could stand listening to that all week, he's useless enough as it is."

Scotty chuckled. Based on what he'd seen. He was surprised the ranch hadn't already gone up in flames.

Kimrick was only gone for five minutes but it felt like an eternity until the door opened back up and he saw him. All 120 scrawny pounds of his best friend wearing an overlarge t-shirt and too long black sleep pants. He looked liked he'd just crawled out of bed with his dark choppy hair stuck out at odd angles. Hell, he wasn't even wearing his customary dark eyeshadow and liner.

They stared at one another in silence, both wide eyed. Scotty noted the black eye his best friend was sporting with a frown. Finally, Kimrick snorted, effectively knocking them back into reality.

"If you're going to eye fuck each other, could you at least wait until you get to your room?" he snapped roughly. And Scotty thought he could detect the slightest hint of, dare he say it, jealousy?

Regardless, Kylee shoved the older man back playfully. "Shut up, no one asked you to stay and watch, you voyeur." And there he was. Sass and all. He laughed and walked toward the open door.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss him Ky," he purred. "Man like that? I definitely wouldn't mind having him watch me."

Kimrick groaned in annoyance. "Fucking perfect, now there's two of you,"

Ch 1/end


End file.
